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a non-background layer (in Photoshop you can use Image Reveal All should you later wish to revert to an uncropped state). The JPEG and TIFF format saves provide the usual compression options and if you save using the DNG format you can convert any raw original to DNG, but see the sidebar about saving JPEGs and TIFFs as DNG. The file save processing is then carried out in the background, allowing you to carry on working in Bridge or Photoshop (depending on which program is hosting Camera Raw at the time) and you'll see a progress indicator (circled in Figure 3.17 ) showing how many photos there are left to save.

Figure 3.17 Clicking on the Save Images… button opens the Save Options dialog shown here. After configuring the options and clicking on the Save button, you will see a status report next to the Save Images button that shows how many images remain to be processed.

Saving images via Camera Raw

If you hold down the key as you click on the Save… button, this will bypass the Save dialog box and save the image (or images) using the last used Save Options settings. This is handy if you want to add file saves to a queue and continue making more edit changes in this or the single view Camera Raw dialog.

Saving a JPEG as DNG

Although it is possible to save a JPEG or TIFF original as a DNG via Camera Raw, it is important to realize that this step does not actually allow you to convert a JPEG or TIFF file into a raw image. Once an image has been rendered as a JPEG or TIFF it cannot be converted back into a raw format. Saving to DNG merely allows you to use DNG as a container format for a JPEG or TIFF and brings no special advantages.

Resolving naming conflicts

A save operation from Camera Raw will auto-resolve any naming conflicts so as to avoid overwriting any existing files in the same save destination. This is important if you wish to save multiple versions of the same image as separate files and avoid overwriting the originals.

The histogram display

The Camera Raw Histogram provides a preview of how the Camera Raw output image histogram will look after the image data has been processed and output as a pixel image (such as a TIFF, PSD or JPEG). The histogram appearance is affected by the tone and color settings that have been applied in Camera Raw but, more importantly, it is also influenced by the RGB space selected in the Workflow Options (see Figure 3.18 ). It can therefore be quite interesting to compare the effect of different output spaces when editing a raw capture image. For example, if you edit a photo in an RGB space like ProPhoto or Adobe RGB and then switch to sRGB, you will most likely see some color channel clipping in the shadow region of the histogram. Such clipping can then be addressed by readjusting the Camera Raw settings to suit the smaller gamut RGB space. Overall, this exercise is useful in demonstrating why it is better to output your Camera Raw processed images using either the ProPhoto or Adobe RGB color spaces.

Figure 3.18 This shows how to access the Workflow Options, plus an example of how the Camera Raw histogram may vary depending on which color space is selected.

Digital camera histograms

Some digital cameras provide a histogram display that enables you to check the quality of what you have just shot. This too can be used as an indication of the levels captured in a scene. However, the histogram you see displayed is usually based on a JPEG capture image. If you are shooting in JPEG mode, that's what you are going to get. If you prefer to shoot using raw mode, the histogram you see on the back of the camera does not provide an accurate guide to the true potential of the image you have captured (see also, Figure 3.3 on page 128).

Image browsing via Camera Raw

In a multiple view mode, the Camera Raw dialog can also be used as a ‘magnified view’ image browser. You can match the magnification and location across all the selected images to check and compare details, inspect them in a sequence and apply ratings to selected images.

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